Don Ledingham explores the Ceannas Approach during a walk over his local hills. Apologies for sniffs, heavy breathing, etc! 

Ceannas Conversations

Wise Leadership - not a leadership style. type or model

The Invisible Flow of TimeThe passing of time is sometimes described as the ‘invisible flow of time’. Such a metaphor immediately conjures up the idea that time can flow at different rates, i.e. it can speed up and it can slow down.I’m not talking here in a science fiction manner, where people can travel backwards and forwards in time, but in the sense of the perception of those who experience time.For the purposes of this essay I’m going to propose that the speed of time is dependent on the observer, i.e. two people might experience the same ‘event duration’ to be significantly different. For example, if I hate watching football, and my wife loves watching football, then an hour in front of the television watching the big game will pass much slower for me than it will for her.An eminent psychologist – with a name you will be unable to pronounce, and I could not correctly spell – captured this with what he described as the process of ‘flow’ which is characterised by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time. Hence, if I am absorbed in writing this essay then time will pass much quicker than if it held no interest for me.There’s another way that the perception of time can differ and that relates to elapsed time, e.g. for a five-year-old child a year equates to 20% of their life and for me as a sixty-year-old that same year equates to 1.6% of my life. Is it any wonder that time seems to be speeding up for me?Of course, time is made up of three discrete yet intimately related states, the past, the present, and the future. The problem with these three states is that although they are all on the same continuum, they elicit very different responses in us as human beings.Firstly, the past has gone, it is no more – in the words of John Cleese it "has ceased to be", "bereft of life, it rests in peace” - although I’m sure historians would deny that the past is not a living, changing entity.Nevertheless, the past no longer exists in the same sense as does the present – which can be described as the ‘progress of existence’, which is an irreversible succession from the past.One of the comforting things about the past is that it at least gives the impression of order, i.e. I can have a pretty good go at describing it and at the very least giving a reasonable account of what happened, putting things into some sequence and making consequential connections between one event and another.The problem with the future is that it defies any attempt to accurately predict events to the same extent, as when I describe events that have already taken place.If then, the future grows out of the present we have a very short horizon to see what will happen before events become much more uncertain and ambiguous. Whereas, the past was characterised as giving the impression of order, the future is much more given to a ‘lack of order’. Borrowing from the world of physics such a phenomenon is known as ‘entropy’ where order or predictability gradually declines into disorder.That is not to say that the future always turns out to be different from what we expect – just that it is radically different from the certainty of the past.From a psychological point of view this ambiguity can stimulate a fear of the unknown, which leads us to take actions which are neither logical nor necessary.In this current crisis, caused by Coronavirus, it is this fear of the unknown that is driving so many illogical behaviours – which are logical when compared with what people have known in the past. For example, for the last few decades I have been able to go to the supermarket and buy whatever provisions I require. All of a sudden that predictability of the past has been interrupted – my confidence in the future, which I thought would simply replicate the past has been fractured. My response is to behave in a manner that solve

The Invisible Flow of Time

Rob Harley was the Student President at Natal University, South Africa in 1994, the year that Nelson Mandela came to power. In his current role as a Senior Investor with Stewart Investors Sustainability Team he reflects on those experiences and how it has shaped him as a person and a leader.

Rob Harley - Wise Leadership (The Desmond Tutu effect)

Daydreaming - the rocket fuel of humankind?

Don Ledingham asks Ed Driver, questions about wise leadership.

Ed Driver - Managing Director, 5 Star Crew - shares his thoughts on wise leadership

I attempt to answer the seven questions derived from the Ceannas Features of Wise Leadership. As I refine these they will become the framework for interviews with other leaders.

Wise Leadership - Don Ledingham

In our modern working environment we must guard against the temptation to become a ‘helicopter leader’. Instead of making ‘benevolent’ decisions on behalf of our colleagues we need to create conditions where we help them to make decisions for themselves and to deal with challenges in a successful manner. Now this is more difficult than just simply handing over the controls. But if a leader truly aspires to create an environment where everyone doesn’t just look to them to come up with the solution, or to pick up the problems as they arise, then they need to climb out of the helicopter and get ‘alongside’ their colleagues in a true spirit of partnership – with a view to setting them free.

There are only two things people need from a great leader: roots and wings

Leaders who do not encourage of demonstrate candour severely limit the potential of thier organisation and their own effectiveness

Leadership Candour: Do I look Good in This?

Sometimes leaders need to let people know the behaviours they are not prepared to tolerate rather than high flown rhetoric to 'aspire to excellence'.

DO PEOPLE KNOW THE BEHAVIOURS YOU WON’T TOLERATE?

Leaders need to break free for the idea that their career stops at retirement age and liberate their thinking from such a limiting point of view.

The 100 Year Old Leader

“Reasonable selfishness’ can provide the leader with a way of thinking that enables them to consider taking a decision which could be deemed to be self-centered, and to which we have been conditioned to avoid throughout our lives – at least in a conscious and explicit form - but which enhances their lives and their professional effectiveness.

Reasonable Selfishness

Sometimes the best way for leaders to achieve their goals is to take the indirect route.

Obliquity - achieving your goals indirectly

Creating a Curiosity Led Organisation

Beautiful Mistakes

Leaders must learn how to use their intuition but also be aware that is can be a double edged sword. This episode explores the concept and makes some suggestions about how the leaders can advance their intuitive capacity.

Leadership Intuition

Ceannas means leadership in Scottish Gaelic. In these podcasts Don Ledingham, Chief Executive of Ceannas, the international leadership development consultancy, reads from his book "A Small Step to Wise Leadership' and draws upon examples from his work with chief executives from around the world. At regular intervals Don will interview senior leaders to investigate how they apply their own wisdom in the complex world of senior leadership decision making.

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Ceannas Conversations

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